As the ashes fall among the ruins of King’s Landing, our triumphant heroes must come to terms with what’s been done — and what will be the aftermath.

WARNING: There are tons of spoilers below so if you’re not caught up with ‘Game of Thrones,’ stop reading now…you’ve been warned.

This episode began where the last episode left off — in King’s Landing, which has been demolished by Daenerys Targaryen’s armies as ashes fall from the sky. Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister and Ser Davos walk through the wreckage, disgusted by the piles of dead bodies around them. They split up, and Tyrion heads down into the dungeons of the Red Keep, where he finds the crushed bodies of his siblings, Jaime and Cersei Lannister. He falls with grief over their bodies, helping give their characters the proper sendoff that many felt was missing from last week’s episode.

Jon comes across Grey Worm, commander of the Unsullied, in his journey to find Daenerys. Grey Worm is executing all remaining Lannister and Golden Company men by slitting their throats, despite his enemies being defeated and having surrendered. Grey Worm claims he is simply fulfilling his queen’s orders, and a distraught Jon heads off to find Daenerys at the Red Keep.

Before Jon or Tyrion get a chance to speak with Dany, she flies in victoriously on her dragon, Drogon, and gives a victory speech to her armies. She says that the war is not over until she liberates the entire world, from Winterfell to Dorne, illustrating that this is just the beginning of her tyranny before she makes Grey Worm her “master of war.” The Dothraki and Unsullied fighters celebrate and cheer for their queen and her bloodlust, while Jon and Tyrion look on, terrified.

Dany then turns her attention to Tyrion and accuses him correctly of freeing Jaime Lannister prior to the attack on King’s Landing. He rips off his Hand of the Queen badge, and she has him taken to the dungeon as a prisoner for breaking her trust and defying her orders.

Jon finds his sister, Arya Stark, and she tries to tell him that Dany must be stopped as she is not a fit ruler for the Seven Kingdoms, but he struggles to accept this new reality and his own mistakes. He visits Tyrion in the dungeons and makes excuses for Dany’s actions.

“She lost her best friend. Her children/dragons died,” Jon says. Tyrion tries to explain to Jon that he must kill Dany or her reign of terror will continue — after all, what will happen to Jon, who is the rightful heir to the throne? Or to Jon’s sisters, who know the secret? Their prospects don’t look great under Dany’s reign.

Jon heads to the Iron Throne and finds Dany approaching the throne in a scene that mirrors her vision in Qarth almost identically. She is mesmerized by the throne that she’s spent her entire life working towards, and Drogon stands guard next to her. Jon pleads with Dany to set Tyrion free, but she does not bend. She basks in her victories and asks Jon to join her — this is just the beginning of all the things they could accomplish together. She tells him to join her in liberating the entire world, and as they kiss, he kills her with a knife to the stomach.

The next scene takes place what appears to be several weeks later. Grey Worm drags Tyrion out before a council of heads of houses, including the Stark family, Howland Reed, Edmure Tully, Robin Arryn, the new leader of Dorne, Yara Greyjoy, Brienne of Tarth, Ser Davos, Samwell Tarly and others. They question what will be done to Jon Snow in the aftermath of killing the queen, and Greyjoy says it’s up to the new leader — who they must now elect.

After some deliberation and a spirited speech from Tyrion, it is decided that “Bran the Broken” Stark would best be the leader for the Seven Kingdoms. His ability to know the entire history of Westeros and lack of emotion in making decisions mean he is the best option for a better future that, hopefully, would not follow past mistakes. The North remains separate from the Seven Kingdoms, and Sansa is anointed Queen of the North while Yara rules the independent Iron Islands.

Bran sends Jon back to The Wall as punishment for Dany’s murder, and the Stark family bids him a teary farewell before he heads north to reunite with his direwolf, Ghost, and his buddy Tormund Giantsbane. Jon’s story ends with the implication that the three of them head north beyond the wall to live with the Wildlings, where he was once happy and in love. Arya decides to go on an adventure and sails off to find out what is west of Westeros.

Tyrion is made hand of the king again for Bran, and the small council consists now of Bronn (master of coin), Brienne (head of the Kingsguard), Tyrion (hand of the king), Ser Davos and Samwell Tarly (grand maester). Brienne takes the time to fill out Jaime’s section properly in The Book of Brothers, in which the deeds of the great Kingsguard knights are recorded.

The show closes following each of the Stark family members setting off on their new journeys.

On the latest podcast, hosts Jeremy Baker and Meredith Geddes chat about some of their favourite moments from “The Iron Throne” and talk about their feelings and theories on the final episode of Game of Thrones.

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